Despacito vs See You Again: which YouTube video will hit 3bn views first?

“Despacito” and “See You Again” are currently locked in an epic, brutal popularity battle atop the YouTube charts.

As the first and second most watched videos on Google’s video platform, both have a chance to become the first ever video to break the three-billion view milestone.

At present, “Despacito” is the plucky underdog, standing at 2.889-billion views, but it has caught and passed previous most viewed video on YouTube — Psy’s “Gangnam Style” — within two weeks.

“See You Again” however is now less than 10-million views away from hitting the three-billion view milestone. It became the most viewed video on YouTube last month, when it itself passed Psy’s hilariously infectious music video.

While Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s ode to Paul Walker is a remarkable track in itself, it can’t quite compare to the juggernaut that is Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito”.

The latter, published 12 January 2017, has taken just 204 days to hit its current views figure. That’s an average of 14.65-million views a day, or 169 new views per second.

“See You Again”, in comparison, was published on 6 April 2015, and averages just 3.51-million views per day.

But who will break the mythical three-billion view milestone? And when will it happen?

Judging by the current speed of the snowball, it could happen as early as this weekend. But that’s probably all up to you, YouTube viewer.

Author | Andy Walker: Editor

Camper by day, run-and-gunner by night, Andy prefers his toast like his coffee -- dark and crunchy. Specialising in spotting the next big Instagram cat star, Andy also dabbles in smartphone and game reviews over on Gearburn. More